Wireless telegraphy.



No. 696,7l5. Patented Apr. 1, I902.

J. BURRY.

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

(Application filed Dec. 6, 1899.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: G

P 72 fig! V NTOR: ml 53/ kzx Attorney I uonpls PEYEFIS co, vnorou'rua, wurgmmou a c JOHN HURRY, OF FORT LEE, NE\V JERSEY.

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

SEEGIEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 696,715, dated April 1, 1902.

. Application filed December 6,1899. Serial No. 739,384. (No model.) 7

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN BURRY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fort Lee, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new'and useful Improvements in Wireless Telegraphy, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for use at receiving-stations in the art of transmitting and receiving signals or the like by means of oscillations or manifestations of the ether.

In all apparatuses for transmitting and receiving signals Without the use of wires or similar conductors with which Iam acquainted it is not possible to employ the ordinary dot-and-dash or Morse system of signaling, inasmuch as the imperfect electrical contact (or contacts) employed is automatically restored to its normal condition of high resistance as soon as a circuit of a given strength is established through it, and this automatic restoration is repeated as long as the key at the sending-station is held down. The relay or sounder is operated in such case at each make and break or reduction of strength of current below a given minimum, so that several vibrations of the armature-lever of the Morse receiver represent a dot and a greater number of such vibrations represent a dash, though, of course, the key at the sending-station is or may be operated as in ordinary telegraphy.

One object of the present invention is to cause the vibrations of the armature-lever of the Morse or other receiver at the receivingi station to harmonize with the key movements at the sending-stationthat is tosay, the movements of the armature-lever of the receiving relay or sounder or other instrument will be practically synchronous with the movements of the sending-key, or a dot sent will be a dot at the receiver and a dash sent will be a dash received. I

Imperfect electrical contacts of many different forms or those working on different principles have been proposed or used. Some of these are self-recovering or self-restoring to a normal condition, as one of poor conductivity. Some are quick and some are slow to recover'said normal condition. Others are quick for a time in so recovering and then lose that power to a greater or lesser degree, but may be restored by rest or by methods of treatment appropriate to the particular kind of contact in use.

One object of the present invention is to provide an interval of time during which the imperfect electrical contact shall be in circuit with the collector or intercepter of the oscillations or manifestations of the ether, another interval during which the said contact shall be Wholly cut off from said collector or intercepter and shall be in circuit with a battery and an electromagnet, and a third interval during which the said contact shall be wholly cut off from both the said collector and said battery and electromagnet, and to repeat the above cycle of intervals indefinitely.

Another object is during the third intervals of time above named to restore said contact to its normal condition of poor conductivity (or the reverse) either by self-recovery or by means appropriate to the particular kind of contact in use.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

In wireless telegraphy several forms of receiving apparatus have been employed or proposed, one as having a complete metallic collectorcircuit, another as having the terminals of the metallic part of the collector-circuit one in the air and the other in earth or water, a third as having both terminals in earth or water, and a fourth as having the receiving apparatus connected with the secondary of an induction-coil.

The principle of the apparatus forming the subject-matter of this application may be used in each of the cases just above named.

According to the present invention a number of imperfect electrical contacts are employed. Means are provided for throwing or switching each contact, first, into a circuit (hereinafter called the collector-circuit) in which the collector or intercepter of the oscillations or manifestations of the other is included or which derives its oscillations from such circuit in which the collector is included through or by means of the secondary of an induction-coil; second, into a circuit (hereinafter referred to as a local circuit) containing a battery and the coils of an electromagnet as a relay; third, wholly out of circuit,

and for repeating said cycle of operations indefinitely. At least three contacts are used, and their respective cycles are so arranged as that at each moment one contact is in circuit with or receives oscillations derived from the collector or interceptor, the second is in the local circuit with abattery and the coils of an electromagnet, as a relay-magnet, and the third contact is wholly out of circuit and is being restored to its normal condition. As one contact is disconnected from said collector-circuit and is connected with battery, &c. another contact is disconnected from battery, &c., and is put wholly out of circuit, and the third contact is connected or thrown into circuit with said collector, and so on indefinitely, or the number of contacts may be some integral multiple of three, in which case the number of contacts in any one stage or cir cuit condition is equal to the total number of contacts divided by three.

In order to translate the oscillations or manifestations of the ether into dot-and-dash signals for ordinary telegraphy, the electromagnets aforesaid are arranged to operate circuit-closers, and a line-relay or asounder and a battery are connected in series with each other and said circuit-closers are connected in multiple with the circuit through the relay or sounder and battery. The arrangements are such that the current from the first-named battery (or batteries) goes through the said electrical contacts whenever these are in circuit with the battery (or each with its own battery) and have had their resistance reduced by the action of oscillations set in motion at the distant sending-station, and the strength of said current is augmented by the decreased resistance to such an extent as to cause the re- 1aymagnet in the circuit to attract its armature-lever or circuit-closer to itself, and so to establish a current in a circuit in which abatteryandaline-relay orasounderareincluded, or the imperfect electrical contacts may be arranged to increase their resistance under the influence of the oscillations or manifestations of the ether, so as to decrease the strength of the battery-current through said re1ay-electrom'agnets to such an extent as to cause them ,to release their circuit-closers, so as to open instead of close the circuit through said second-named battery and the line-relay or the sounder. In the first case named the magnet is not strong enough to attractor draw over its armature until the resistance of the corresponding imperfect electrical contact has been reduced, while in the second case the attraction of the magnet is weakened by .the decreased strength of the current due to the increased resistance of the corresponding imperfect electrical contact to such an extent that its armature-lever is drawn away therefrom by the spring provided for that purpose.

The apparatus of the present invention is operated, preferably, at such a rate of speed as will secure that more than one electrical contact shall during the receiving of a dot first be thrown into circuit with the collector or intercepter of the oscillations or manifestations of the ether and then into circuit with battery and the coils of a corresponding electromagnet; but the interval between the cutting out of one contact and the cutting in of the next is so slight (or these are so nearly simultaneous) that the circuit through the sounder (or the line-relay) is not broken or weakened enough to release its attracted armature during the sending of a dot or dash and the switching in and out of the contacts and the corresponding relays.

The preferred form of the in vention is illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, forming part of this specification, in which the reference 1 marks a conductor connected with the said collector or intercepter. (Not shown.)

2 is a rotatory shaft about which a series of sunflowers A B O D E F G are arranged and on but insulated from which the'trailers a b c d 6 g of said sunflowers are secured. The sunflower Acomprises three segments a a a the sunflower B three segments 0 c 0 and so on. These segments are all insulated from each other and from the shaft 2. The segments a c e of sunflowers A O E are connected with the conductor l by the wires a c a, respectively. Brushes a c e bear on the hubs of trailers a c a, respectively. Wires or c e respectively connect segments a c c with a wire 3, and 4 is a battery with one pole of which wire 3 is connected.

H I K are three imperfect electrical contacts, which for the purposes of this specification may be of the general nature of those described in Letters Patent of the United States granted July 13, 1897, to G. Marconi and numbered 586,193. The contacts H I K are arranged to be rotated to cause decoherence, and h h are metal brushes bearing on the metallic ends of contact H. t" 71 are similar brushes bearing on the like ends of contact I, and so also of brushes is k and contact K. V

a c c are wires respectively connecting brushes a c 6 with brushes h t" 7r.

The references b d f indicate brushes bearing, respectively, on the hubs of trailers 12 d f and b d f are wires respectively connecting brushes 7L2 1' k with the brushes b d f.

References b d f are wires connecting segments 1) d f to earth (or other circuitcompleter.) Y

L M N are relay-magnets which are connected, respectively, with the segments 5 d f by the wires 6 d f and 5 is a wire connecting the said magnets L M N with the other pole of battery 4. Pivoted armaturelevers Z m n are drawn away from magnets L M N by springs 6 and have their motion toward and from the said magnets limited by the front and back stops 7 8. Each arment 9 A brush'g bears upon the hub of:

trailer g and is connected by a wire 9? witln the coils of electromagnet O of a line-relay The magnet O .is connected or a sounder. with a battery 9, which is grounded at the other end or pole by a wirelO, or the circuit may be otherwise completed. vibrates between stops 11 12, being drawn away from magnet O by spring 13.

The segments a b'f are shown as being above the shaft 2, segments a (1 f are shown as being at the right of shaft 2, and segments a b to f are at the left of shaft 2. The trailers a c e" are set on the shaft 2 at angles of one hundred and twenty degrees with each other, andso also of trailers b d ffiwhenceit results that'when trailers a b are on segments a b trailers c d? are on segment 0 d and trailerse? on segments e fiat which time the contact. H is in the collector-circuit, the contact I is in the local circuit, and collectorK is wholly disconnected from both of said circuits. When trailers a Zr pass to segments a Z2 trailers 0 cl pass to segments 0 (Z and trailers e f pass to segments ef, at which time contact His cutinto thelocal circuit, contact I is wholly cut out, and contact K is cut into the collector-circuit, and whenthe trailers have advanced each to another segment of its sunflower the contact H is wholly cut out, con-7 tact I is cut into the collectoncirchit, and contact K is cut into the local circuit.

When trailers a c e are on segments a c e, the wire 1 is in connection with the con-,

tacts H I K and ground through wires a c e, trailers 61, c 6 brushes a 0 6 wires a 0 e brushes h t It, brushes h? 2' wires b dtff, brushes b d f trailers b d' f segments b d f, and wires b d It will beunderstood, ofcours'e, that owing to the above-described ar-' rangement of trailers a 0 Q4 and b d f and;

segments a Z) c tof no two of contacts H I K are simultaneously in circuit with wire lthat is to say, the collector-circuit is arranged with three discontinuous branches in parallehand that .it is completed through the branches taken insuccession and one by one, as through wire a segment a, trailer ct,wire ct ,brush 77., contact H, brush 7L2, and wire and the corresponding local circuit becomes complete or continuous whenever contact II is cut in with it by the action of the sunflowers A B and their trailers.

As shown in the drawing, the collector-cit cuitis continuous through contactH', segment a, trailer (1", brush crf, wire a brush it, contact H, brush 71 wire 6 brush bitrailer b,

segment I), and ground-wire b and a' local '3, wire d, brush (1, trailer (1, segment d The lever 0 andwires d and 5, and contact K is wholly disconnected, sincetrailers 6 f are upon the segments eif which are not connected with anything, and so are dead. Segments a b to f may therefore be ofinsulating material. It now when the parts are in the positions shown in the drawing the key at thesendingstation be operated to cause oscillations-or manifestations of. the ether to be set up, the contact H alone will be acted: on to have its resistance reduced, since it alone is in circuit with wire 1. Inasmuch as the shaft2 is driven at a high rate of speed (say two thousand revolutions per minute) the trailers move very fast from one to another of the sunflower-segments. Astrailer a, passes'to magnet a? the contact II is put into circuit with magnet L and battery 4:, (through the parts marked 3, (fla a, a ct ,"h, 7L2, b b b b b and 5,) and magnet L is energized sufficiently to cause it to draw lever Z over against stop 7, thus closing the circuit through wire 1*, segment g, trailer (which passes to segment g as trailer at passed to segment a1) brush giwire g magnet 0, battery 9, and wire 10,thus operating armature-lever 0. When trailer a passes to segment a trailers c 61 pass to dead segments 0 d and trailer e fi to the segments ef. The key at the sending-station being still'depressed, the oscillations now find a path to earth through wire a, segment e, trailer e brush e wire 6 brushes 7570", con tact K, wire f brush f trailer 3, segment f, and wire f thus decreasing the resistance in contact K. Next when trailers e f pass to segments e f (simultaneouslygthe trailers a? I; pass to segments a b thus opening the circuit between battery. and magnet L, whereupon leverl is drawn away from .stop 7 and the trailers o d to segments 0 d thus putting contact I into circuit with wires 1 and d the battery-current is not broken,

butis diverted or switched through contactthe opening of the circuit at lever Zandpoint 7, whence it results that the magnetO is not deenergized or weakened to an extent. sufficient to permit lever o tomove fromstoplfZ. At the time trailers e f are on segmen'tsc f trailers c d are on segments dd and Icontact I is cut in with wire, 1 and trailersa b are on segments c 11 and contact His wholly cut out The key at the sending-station being still depressed, the contact I is. acted on by the oscillations and when trailers c d pass to segments c d the current of battery :1: is

now cut out) and lever m closes the circuit through wire m segment 9 trailerg, brush switched to magnet M (magnets LandN are it being understood that contacts H I K are shaken to decohere them each time the corresponding trailers are on the dead segments aforesaid.

Contacts HI K may be shaken conveniently by means of soft-rubber segments 19 q r on the peripheries of the disks P Q R, which are fast on shaft 2. Said segments p q 1 each extend through one-third of a circle by preference, and each is set to coact with and rotate the corresponding contact at the time the corresponding pairs of trailers a and b", c and d", and a and f are on dead segments of their respective sunflowers.

The metal segments 0. b c to f provide means for connecting a battery or other suitable current with the contacts H I K to decohere them or restore to normal condition in case these contacts should be of anature such that a proper current or impulse will decohere them.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having a number of discontinuousbranches in parallel, discontinuous local circuits equal in number to the branches of the collector-circuit, imperfect electrical contacts equal in number to the said collector-circuit branches, and means for periodically including each contact first in a collector-circuit branch and then in a local circuit to complete said circuits, and said contacts being included in rotation in the collector and the local circuits and each in different local circuits and collector-circuit branches.

2. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous local circuits, three imperfect electrical contacts, and means for periodically including each contact first in a collectorcircuit branch, then in a local circuit, and then disconnecting it altogether, whereby said circuits are completed, and said contacts being included each in different local circuits and in different branches of the collector-circuit and in rotation in said circuits.

3. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having a number of discontinuous branches, discontinuous local circuits equal in number to the branches of the collector-circuit, imperfect electrical contacts equal in number to the said collector-circuitbranches,and means for periodically including each contact first in a collector-circuit branch and then in a local circuit to complete said circuits, and said contacts being included in rotation in the collector branches and the local circuits and each in different branches and locals thereof, with acircuit-operating relay for and in each of said local circuits.

4. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collectorcircuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous local circuits, three imperfect electrical contacts, and means for periodically including each contact first in a collector-circuit branch, then in a local circuit, and then disconnecting it altogether, whereby said circuits are completed, and said contacts being included each in different branches of the collector-circuit andin rotation in said circuits, with a circuit-operating relay for and in each of said local circuits.

5. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having discontinuous branches, discontinuous local circuits, imperfect electrical contacts equal in n umber to said collector-circuit branches,sun-

flowers with segments of which said branches and local circuits connect, and trailers connected with said contacts and coactingwith said sunflowers to complete said collector-circuit first through one and then another of its branches and to complete each local circuit after the completion of the collector-circuit through a corresponding branch thereof.

6. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector circuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous local circuits, three imperfect electrical contacts, six three-segment sunflowers with two segments of each of which said branches and locals connect, and sunflowertrailers connected with said contacts to complete said collector-circuit first through one i then a second and then the third branch thereof and to complete each local after the completion of the collector-circuit through a corresponding branch thereof. q

7. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having discontinuous branches, discontinuous local circuits, imperfect electrical contacts equal in number to said collector-circuit branches, sunflowers with segments of which said branches and locals connect, and trailers connected with said contacts and coacting with said sunflowers to complete said collectorcircuit first through one and then another of its branches, with a circuit-operating relay for and in each of said local circuits.

8. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collectorcircuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous local circuits, three imperfect electrical contacts, six three-segment sunflowers with two segments of each of which said branches and locals connect, and sunflowertrailers connected with said contacts to complete the collector-circuit first through one then a second and then the third branch thereof and to complete each local after the completion of the collector-circuit through a corresponding branch, with a circuit-operating relay for and in each of said local circuits.

9. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having discontinuous branches, discontinuous local circuits, imperfect electrical contacts equal in number to said collector-circuit branches,

IIC

i A i sunflowers with segments of which said branches connect,trailers connected with said contacts and coacting with said sunflowers to complete the collectorcircuit first through one and then another of its branches, and then the corresponding local circuits, a relay for and in each of saidlocal circuits, a sunflower having as many segments as there are relays, an electromagnetically-operated instrument, a battery, a trailer for the lastnamed sunflower, and circuit-completing connections including the said instrument, battery and trailer in series and connecting said segments of the last-named sunflower each with a different relay of the said local circuits.

, 10. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination. of a collector-circuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous local circuits, three imperfect electrical contacts, six three-segment sunflowers with two segments of each of which said branches and locals connect, and sunflowertrailers connected with said contacts to complete said collector-circuit first through one and then a second and then the third branch thereof and then to complete said local circuits, with a relay for and in each of said 10- cal circuits, a sunflower having as many seg ments as there are relays, an electromagnetically-operated instrument, a battery,a trailer for the last-named sunflower, and circuitcompleting connections including the said instrument, battery and trailerin series and connecting said segments of the last-named sunflower each with-a different relay of the local-circuit branches.

, 11. In wireless telegraphy and thelike, the combination of a collector-circuit having a number of discontinuous branches, discontinuous local circuits equal in number to the branches of the collector-circuit, imperfect electrical contacts equal in number tothe said collector-circuit branches, means for periodically including each contact first in a collector-circuit branch, then in a local circuit to complete said circuits and then disconnecting it, and said contacts being included in rotation in the collector and the local cir-. cuits and each in different collector-circuit branches and in different locals, a circuit-operating relay for and in each local circuit,

means for restoring each contact to normal condition. while so disconnected, a relay for and in each local circuit, a sunflower having as many segments as there are relays,an eleccombination of a collector-circuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous a battery, a trailer for the last-namedsunflower, an d circuit-completing connections including the said instrument, battery and trailer in series and connecting said segments of the last-named sunflower each with a different relay of the localcircuits.

13. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having a number of discontinuous branches, discontinuous local circuits equal in number to the branches ofthe collector-circuit, imperfect electrical contacts equalin number to the said collector-circuit branches, and meansfor periodically including each contact firstin a collector-circuit branch andthen in a local circuit to complete said circuits, and said contacts being included inrotation in the collector branches and the local circuits and each in different branches and locals thereof, with a circuit operating relay for and in each of said local circuits, a line having a battery'and a relay or sounder therein, and means for connecting said line with said local-circuit relays one at a time in succession.

, 14. In wireless telegraphy and the like, the combination of a collector-circuit having three discontinuous branches, three discontinuous local circuits, three imperfect electrical contacts, and means for periodically including each contact first in a collector-circuit branch,

then in a local circuit, and then disconn ect-' ingit altogether, whereby said circuits are completed, andsaid contacts beingin'cluded I each in different branches of the collectorcircuit and in rotation in said circuits, with a circuit-operating relay'for and in reach of said local circuits, a line having a battery and a relay or sounder therein, and means forconnecting said line with said local-circuit relays one at a'timein succession.

Signed at New York, inthecountyofNew York and State of New'Yorlg'this 5th day of December, A. D. 1899.

JOHN HURRY. Witnesses:

OHAs. A. BRODEK, R. W. BARKLEY. 

